n order to help people chant these hymns in Greek, English phonetics
have been provided directly beneath the Greek text. One should be aware,
however, that these phonetics are merely an approximation of the actual
sound of the Greek syllables. The following paragraphs explain the differences.

In Greek, there are only
five vowel sounds: ah [α]*,
eh [ε], ee [i], o [o], and oo [u].
Therefore, particular
caution is necessary that no other vowel sounds are unintentionally used.
For example, the Greek syllable "ταν,"
transliterated "tan," should be pronounced "tahn" [tαn] and not like
the English word "tan." Likewise, the Greek syllable "σω"
transliterated "so," should be pronounced "soh" [so] and not like the
English word "so," which has a brief "oo" sound at the end [sou]. The
Greek letters "α"
and "ε"
are transliterated "ah" [α] and "eh" [ε] respectively. An "h"
is used in their transliteration to emphasize that the vowels
are pure sounds, not diphthongs.

The Greek letter "δ"
(delta) is pronounced like the voiced consonant "th" [š] in the English
word "then." In order to distinguish this sound from the unvoiced "th"
sound [θ] found in words such as "thin," the letter "δ"
is always transliterated as "dh." All "r's" in Greek are rolled, similarly
to the "r" [ř] in the English word "three."

The most difficult letters
in Greek for native English-speakers to pronounce are "χ"
(chi) and "γ"
(gamma) because their corresponding sounds are never used in English.
The letter "χ"
is pronounced like a gutteral "h" [x] before the vowel sounds "ah,"
"oh," and "oo"; however, it is pronounced more smoothly [ē] before the
vowel sounds "ee" and "eh." In this book, it is transliterated with
the letter "h" when at the beginning of a syllable. Likewise, the letter
"γ" is pronounced like a
gutteral "g" before the vowel sounds "ah," "oh," and "oo"; however,
it is pronounced like a rough "y" before the vowel sounds "ee" and "eh."
For this reason, the letter "γ"
is transliterated using the letter "g" in the former case and "y" in
the latter.

A subtle difference between
English and Greek pronunciation is that the English consonants "l,"
"n," "t," and "d" are lingua-alveolar, whereas the corresponding Greek
consonants "λ,"
"ν,"
"τ," and "ντ" are lingua-dental. In
other words, in Greek these consonants are formed with the tongue touching
the back of the upper teeth instead of the upper gum ridge. Furthermore,
the Greek letters "π"
and "τ," corresponding
to the English letters "p" and "t" respectively, are always pro­nounced
softly, i.e., without forcefully expelling air. Another subtlety is
that when the letters "κ,"
"γ,"
and "χ"
are followed by an "eh" [ε] sound, a momentary "ee" [i] is pronounced
before forming the "eh" sound.

Although these guidelines may be helpful, the most effective way to absorb all
of these variations is to listen carefully to native Greek speakers.